Deal makers: Skill sets that'll be in high demand

With the Indian Premier League introducing a stricter rule for overseas players barring them from entering the following mini auction if they skipped the mega auction, only a limited set of international stars are available for Tuesday's auction at Abu Dhabi.

- Sanjjeev K Samyal

The IPL introduced the rule to curb manipulation by overseas players ie. getting a bigger purse at the mini auction because of the limited pool of players in the fray. As a consequence, at this mini auction there will be a lot of money in the room but not enough quality names to buy. It is a case of having demand, but not enough supply and that is why Cameron Green is being seen by many as the pick of the event.

It means, players with the right skill sets will be in high demand. Hence, a bonanza awaits for players seen as match-winners. The ones who fall in that category are the strike bowlers, the unorthodox spinners, attacking top-order batters and finishers.

Most of the overseas players available - Green, Liam Livingstone, Jason Holder, Michael Bracewell, Mustafizur Rahman, Quinton de Kock, Pathum Nissanka, Jamie Smith, Jonny Bairstow, Matheesha Pathirana, Matt Henry, Lungi Ngidi, Alzarri Joseph, Taskin Ahmed and Spencer Johnson, won't normally make the marquee list at an IPL auction, but in the current scenario, they have a good chance of franchises getting into bidding wars over them.